VOA慢速英语--罗马尼亚女巫使用社交媒体

Romanian Witches Use Social Media

“Repeat after me! To be together with who I want.”

Those instructions come from a family of Romanian witches, who are doing a video call with a person in India.

The person is paying the witches to cast a spell - a group of secret words that are believed to have magic power when spoken.

The Internet and the Witch Community

Witchcraft¹ is traditional in the eastern European country.

The rise of the internet and social media have helped to grow the business of Romania’s witch community. Many the country’s estimated 4,000 witches are now getting customers from Europe, Asia and the United States.

“A truly powerful witch can solve problems from a distance,” explains 20-year-old witch Cassandra Buzea.

Buzea said her generation had persuaded the older one about the powers of the ‘selfie,’ referring to images people take of themselves. Her mother quickly supported the idea.

“Nothing’s changed, the craft is the same, but now it’s much easier for us to be in contact with clients from other countries,” said Mihaela Minca, who taught her daughter Cassandra the family craft.

The witches hold many of their online meetings in a small building about 15 kilometers north of Bucharest, Romania.

They would not say how much money they earn, but they did say that a tarot reading starts at around 50 euros, or around $56.

Other more complex services, however, last weeks and can run into the hundreds.

Involvement in Politics

Minca said she connected online with nine witches and wizards from across Europe and the United States. Their goal: to make magic against Romanian lawmakers seen by witches as corrupt².

Streamed online, the group performed a magic act with their overseas partners. The act was to punish “those who don’t do their jobs, those who have bad intentions,” Minca said. She said those targeted by the magic “will lose their positions and suffer health problems.”

The non profit anti-corruption organization Transparency International, says Romania is one of the EU’s most corrupt states. The European Commission³, based in Brussels, has kept the country’s judicial⁴ system under special monitoring since it joined the bloc⁵ in 2007.

Romania’s ruling Social Democrats⁶ proposed changes to the country’s crime laws last year. The European Commission said the proposed changes could undo⁷ years of democratic and market reforms.

Minca said she and her fellow witches plan to use the power of the internet once more ahead of May’s European parliament elections, “for the good of the country.”

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

cast – v. to send or direct (something) in the direction of someone or something

craft – n. a job or activity that requires special skill

tarot – n. a set of 78 cards with pictures and symbols that is used to see what will happen in the future

ritual⁸ – n. a formal ceremony or series of acts that is always performed in the same way

1 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

4 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

5 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

8 ritual   

adj.例行的，老规矩的，惯常的

参考例句：

• This was the monthly ritual.这是每月一次的例规。
• I realized that here the conventions required me to make the ritual noises.我意识到此时按照惯例我应该说些客套话。